Washington police reopen rape investigation into Mesa man

PHOENIX — Authorities have reopened a rape investigation into a Mesa man and former Seattle professional soccer team owner after he was indicted on sexual-assault and kidnapping charges in Arizona.

According to The Seattle Times, police have reopened the “long-dormant” rape investigation into 45-year-old Dion Earl months after he was first charged with sexually assaulting two women who were hired to babysit his children.

Earl has remained behind bars since he was arrested and charged with kidnapping, sexual assault, sexual abuse, assault and public indecency late last year.

The publication said his arrest “raised lingering questions about the failure of authorities to bring charges against Earl in King County, where [he] was the subject of myriad police calls, protection orders and investigations, including two sexual-assault probes.”

The former Seattle Impact professional indoor soccer team owner was accused in 2009 of raping a female massage parlor attendant during an appointment.

The initial rape investigation laid dormant for more than four years due to a “lapse on a routine shift of detectives to other departmental duties,” police said.

The oversight was not discovered until 2014, when Earl was again accused of sexual assault by two female dance-team members. The women sued Earl for molesting them and he was forced to pay out nearly $1 million last year.

Since then, samples of Earl’s DNA have been given to Washington investigators for “comparison with fluid found on the woman’s underwear from that night in 2009.”

Earl’s lawyer, Jocquese Blackwell, declined to comment on the case, other than to say his client isn’t guilty.